Gaming Schedule and Sign-up Sheets

This is the list of scheduled gaming sessions at Virtual Balticon 54. In addition to the items listed below, there will be drop-in gaming in the BSFS Discord gaming channels.

The scheduled games will be played on various on-line platforms including Discord, Zoom, Fantasy Grounds Unity, and Roll20. See the Platforms page for more information on using the platforms.

You will need to sign-up in advance using the sign-up link listed with the game description and set up your accounts on any service used by a game you are registering for before the scheduled game time. Please use the signup sheets below for the RPGs; your information will be passed on to the GMs. The specific channel for each game will be added as the BSFS Discord server is finalized.

Friday, May 22

Friday, May 22, 2PM

Thousand Arrows: Variations on the Death of Kukami Yoshitaka

GM: James Mendez Hodes, lula#3711 (Discord)

It’s 12 October 1600. Admiral Kukami Yoshitaka backed the wrong man in the struggle to unify Japan. Now he’s about to take his own life. Little does he know that his son Moritaka, who fought for the winning side, sails towards his family’s castle with a pardon from the Shōgun himself. Little does Moritaka know his clan’s ancient enemies lurk in the mist, intent on keeping the son from rescuing his father. As Kukami Moritaka and his band of companions, can you lead your army past marauding pirates, lurking ninja, and vengeful samurai to save your dad? Beginner-friendly, for 3-5 players, teens and up. Content Warnings: Death, suicide, violence, war, firearms, deception.

Friday, May 22, 7PM

Friday, May 22, 8PM

Tales from the Loop: Horror Movie Madness

GM: Jeremiah Monk, Lyme#5018 (Discord)

It’s the summer of 1988. The new video store is the best thing to ever happen to Boulder, AZ, at least in the opinion of a bunch of kids like you. At first you weren’t bothered by the PTA protesting videos with violent and satanic content, but now all the adults in town are acting strange. Can you get to the bottom of things before the Cultural Festival becomes another scene from a horror movie? Beginner-friendly, for 3-6 players, teens and up. Content warning: Satanic panic.

Friday, May 22, 8PM

Dungeons and Doggies: Who’ll Let the Dogs Out?

GM: Leigh and Jay Targaryen

In this riff on Dungeons and Dragons, players are Awakened Doggies on a quest to save a village and rescue their dogs from a magical threat. Beginner-friendly, for 4 players, all ages. No content warnings.

Saturday, May 23

Saturday, May 23, 10AM

The Fantasy Trip: Fire in the Temple

GM: David Edelstein

Ready for a nice getaway? Visit the Temple of Dolosia and relax! Let the soothing mud baths and warm sulfur springs wash your tensions away. But you may want to bring your sword, just in case. In this adventure for The Fantasy Trip, the gentle priests of Dolosia are gone from the spa. There’s Fire in the Temple and someone’s going to get burned! Beginner friendly, for 3-5 players, ages 12+. Content warnings: Violence, possible character death.

What to prepare: This game will be run on Fantasy Grounds Unity, using a Discord voice channel. Prior to the starting time slot, you must download and install Fantasy Grounds Unity (not Fantasy Grounds Classic) on your PC, and create a FGU account. The GM has a FGU Ultimate license, so there is no need for players to purchase a subscription; free accounts are welcome to play. However, installing and setting up your FGU and Discord accounts is required. You will also need to send the GM your email address so I can invite you to the FGU server. If you need help doing so prior to the game, email me (david.edelstein@gmail.com) and I’ll be happy to walk you through it. I will not be able to do this on the day of the game, however.

Saturday, May 23, 11AM

Eclipse Phase: Ego Hunter

GM: Jeremiah Monk, Lyme#5018 (Discord)

Ego Hunter is a short adventure in the transhumanist world of Eclipse Phase. Achjima Yai, a scienti and singularity seeker, has gone missing from her home in a small Martian colony. The only people who can find her are six not-quite-identical and highly illegal copies of herself she made to do errands. Can you find yourself before your own secrets catch up to you? Beginner-friendly, for 3-6 players, teens and up. Content warning: Existential identity/horror.

Saturday, May 23, 1PM

Saturday, May 23, 1PM

Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition: The Haunting

GM: Ryan Blodgett

The classic Call of Cthulhu adventure: You are hired to look into a supposedly “haunted” house and give it a clean bill of health so that it can be rented out to new tenants. What mysteries will be uncovered? Beginner-friendly, for 3-6 players, teens and up. Content warnings: Mental illness, violence, and gore.

Saturday, May 23, 5PM

GURPS: Lair of the Fat Man

GM: Dana Carson

This espionage tale, set in the early 1980s, pits the heroes against each other as part of a multinational team called UNISTOMP. Can these super-spies trust each other and their cohorts’ nations enough to save the world, protect their countries’ secrets, and learn the truth about the Fat Man? GURPS Lair of the Fat Man is an oddball romp through super-spy clichés, in the style of 1960s espionage films that don’t take themselves too seriously. Beginner-friendly, for 4-8 players, for teens and up. No content warnings.

Saturday, May 23, 7PM

Saturday, May 23, 7PM

Lancer RPG: Objective: Amaterasu

GM: Rodger Burns, rburns_bsfs#1950 (Discord)

Humanity has recovered from disaster and spread to the stars — but conflict is not yet forgotten, and humanity battles each other with propaganda, economic sanctions, mecha and starships. Sixty hours ago, the Armory strike vessel Amaterasu engaged in unlawful orbital bombardment of the colony world your mecha squad is chartered to protect. Your mission: Board the Amaterasu, prevent any further attacks, and find out who ordered the initial strike. Beginner-friendly, for 3-6 players, teens and up. Content warnings: Firearms, war, violence.

Saturday, May 23, 7PM

Yggdrasil: Leaves of the Tree: Echoes of the Past

GM: Misha Field, Misha#2709 (Discord)

Professor Henry Alder IV is a pre-eminent archaeologist, and when Lord Julio Estes offers to fund an expedition and dig in the aboriginal lands of Australia, Prof Alder is quite excited. Putting together a team of assistants, and hiring guards from the Lord’s funds, he sets out through the magic infested wilds of The Outback.

Little does he know, Lord Estes will stop at nothing to get his hands on the artifact of his desire, and has hired competing teams of cutthroat mercenaries and grave-robbers, and they really want the payout for discovery.

Join Professor Alder on his quest as one of his scientists or guards, solving ancient puzzles and fighting off threats with magic and steel, in a brand new gaming system that focuses on creative storytelling, and offers a highly configurable skill system that rewards creative use of your character’s knowledge. Beginner-friendly, for 4-6 players, teens and up. No content warnings.

What to Prepare: Software able to read .pdf files, or a web browser able to read .pdf files.

Sunday, May 24

Sunday, May 24, 10AM

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Adventure on the Seven Seas

GM: David Edelstein

An introductory adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, Sailors on the Starless Sea pits a mob of 0-level adventurers against the legacy of the Chaos Lords and their corrupted hordes. Beginner-friendly, for 3-5 players, ages 14+. Content warnings: Graphic violence; character death; TPKs are possible/likely!

What to prepare: This game will be run on Fantasy Grounds Unity, using a Discord voice channel. Prior to the starting time slot, you must download and install Fantasy Grounds Unity (not Fantasy Grounds Classic) on your PC, and create a FGU account. The GM has a FGU Ultimate license, so there is no need for players to purchase a subscription; free accounts are welcome to play. However, installing and setting up your FGU and Discord accounts is required. You will also need to send the GM your email address so I can invite you to the FGU server. If you need help doing so prior to the game, email me (david.edelstein@gmail.com) and I’ll be happy to walk you through it. I will not be able to do this on the day of the game, however.

Sunday, May 24, 10AM

The maimed Virulence has come. The future of Cinnabar Throne and the lives of the denizens of Phlan are in jeopardy. The Cult of the Dragon rejoices, and the Black Fist is powerless to stop them. How will the factions of the city respond to this threat? Can Phlan be saved this time? Part One of Under Emerald Claws. Beginner-friendly, for 3-7 players, ages 8+. No content warnings.

Sunday, May 24, 1PM

Sunday, May 24, 2PM

Thousand Arrows: Variations on the Death of Kukami Yoshitaka

GM: James Mendez Hodes, lula#3711 (Discord)

It’s 12 October 1600. Admiral Kukami Yoshitaka backed the wrong man in the struggle to unify Japan. Now he’s about to take his own life. Little does he know that his son Moritaka, who fought for the winning side, sails towards his family’s castle with a pardon from the Shōgun himself. Little does Moritaka know his clan’s ancient enemies lurk in the mist, intent on keeping the son from rescuing his father. As Kukami Moritaka and his band of companions, can you lead your army past marauding pirates, lurking ninja, and vengeful samurai to save your dad? Beginner-friendly, for 3-5 players, teens and up. Content Warnings: Death, suicide, violence, war, firearms, deception.

Sunday, May 24, 4PM

Monster of the Week: War’nt A Crab What Did This

GM: Jeremiah Monk, Lyme#5018 (Discord)

Monster of the Week is a rules-light game that emulates supernatural investigation/action shows like Buffy, the X-Files, Fringe, and Supernatural. This week our mismatched crew of monster hunters heads to the Eastern Shore after a long-forgotten cryptid reappears to cause havoc on land and bay. Beginner-friendly, for 3-6 players, for teens and up. No content warnings.

Sunday, May 24, 4PM

Vorgansharax rules Phlan, using the Cult of the Dragon to extend his noxious gaze. But the green dragon seeks far more than control of the beleaguered town — ultimate power is nearly within reach. Will he reactivate the Pool of Radiance and ascend to greater prominence amongst his kind? A sequel to Tyranny in Phlan and Part Two of Under Emerald Claws. Beginner-friendly, for 3-7 players, ages 8+. No content warnings.

Sunday, May 24, 7PM

Alien RPG: Chariot of the Gods

GM: OmegaOm, OmegaOm#6171 (Discord)

Coming home overloaded with volatile cargo, the USCSS Montero is diverted to answer a distress signal sent by the USCSS Cronus, a science vessel missing for seventy-five years. Finding terrors in the shadows, the crew must deal with horrific monsters, forgotten secrets, and sudden betrayals, as well as their own mounting tensions if they have any hope of survival.